Related Applications
The present application relates to a smoke evacuator system for laser surgery. Two other applications are being filed simultaneously and are assigned to the same assignee as the present application: the first relating to a filter used with the system; and, the second relating to electronic circuitry for the system.
Laser surgery is becoming a more common as surgical modality with a large variety of uses. When a tissue is subjected to a high energy laser beam the tissue is vaporized. It is desirable to remove the vapor and other by-products from the surgical site in a controlled manner. The word smoke is intended to mean the by-products of laser surgery which are primarily gases, but can include some small amounts of liquid and solid particulate matter. The most common means of removing the vapor and other by-products is to use a suction tube at the surgical site to establish a flow of air which is then delivered to a filter placed in a housing with the motors and pumps that establish the vacuum flow. Present day vacuum apparatus usually works satisfactorily but are often heavy, difficult to move, noisy and expensive. Many present day vacuum apparatus do not have variable suction levels.
Many present day filter systems are difficult to replace when they become clogged. Certain filter systems do not have automatic warning systems to indicate that a filter is clogged.
Existing systems for monitoring the conditions of a filter usually attempt to monitor air flow rate through the filter or pressure drop across the filter. Although these systems work satisfactorily they tend to be expensive, complex and hard to calibrate and maintain in a surgical environment.
It would be desirable to have a light-weight, portable, quiet, powerful and inexpensive evacuator system for laser surgery which would include an easily replaceable filter and an automatic indicator of a clogged filter condition.